It was a rough night. We were tied to the wall at Joliet and many tow barges passed right by us and they kicked up wakes that rocked the boat. So, the next morning, even though it was raining (first pic), we decided to make way to Ottawa, IL. We travelled with 2 other boats in order to make it easy for the lockmasters to get us through the locks all at one time. We went through 3 locks on 9/18 and arrived at Ottawa to tie up on the city wall, but it was already full, so we made way to Starved Rock Marina for the night. The next morning we started out for the next lock about 2 miles downriver, but they turned us back because of barge traffic and they were getting ready for some construction on the lock. This made us a little uneasy because the next day, the Army Corp of Engineers planned to close the lock at Starved Rock for 4 days. We needed to get through today. We waited all morning and finally, the locktender called us on the radio and said to get there right away. It was good having a fast boat and we got to the lock just in time to get through. The next 2 pics show more barges, and they were getting wider and wider. The next pic shows the white pelicans on the Illinois River. Then a pic of water aft of the boat, where the Asian carp were jumping out of the water, but the picture did not capture it for you to see clearly. Finally, we arrived at Henry Harbor where the first lock on the Illinois river was constructed. It is not used anymore, except for boats like ours to dock for the night (last pic).
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